Thousands of protesters marched in Paris as the Senate approved a hotly debated government bill reforming labour laws. The government allowed the protest march after negotiating an alternative route for the demonstration, which was initially banned. The government wants the reforms to make it easier to lay off employees, allow temporary extensions of the work week and give company deals priority over industry-wide deals. Some unions argue it would weaken workers' rights. During two weeks of debate, the Senate, led by a conservative majority, substantially changed the bill to make it more pro-business. Yet, the labour reforms must be debated again in July at the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, led by a socialist majority. Amendments that have been proposed by the government so far have not satisfied the strongest opponents, the trade unions CGT and FO.
English: http://www.france24.com/en/20160628-thousands-march-paris …
French: http://www.europe1.fr/societe/loi-travail-en-progres-mais-pas-suffisant …
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Willy De Backer wdebacker@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. Since June 2013 readers can consult our archive and search through all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.
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